Blog 10

This week is a bit of a rant – especially since I cannot stand getting political garbage emails forwarded to me. I received something in an email about how Obama granted 20 million toward helping Palestinians migrate to the US. Of course, I thought it sounded a little off, even though they showed a document that looked fairly legit. I started googling about H.R. 1388 Passed “Behind Our Backs?” and actually found a descent website called www.factcheck.org that went through and debunked rumors from both democrats and republicans.

Besides the fact that the email was a bit bogus, mostly by adding truth from a few different things and combining so it sounded bad, I noticed along the top an article about a politician wrong on abortion facts. Not that much of a surprise really, however I started to look at what was being said, on air, about how abortion rates were high and if there was no abortion there wouldn’t be any problems with the Social Security Act or medicare… which blew my mind at the fact that someone would even bring up those to compare.

For the full story here is the link: http://www.factcheck.org/2011/03/santorum-wrong-on-abortion-birth-facts/

I wish that like the crisis centers, these people would be morally obligated to give true facts – not just half of the truth – but the full truth that the people need because without it we have untrustworthy politicians taking the whole population down.

 

 

Blog 9

So off the top of my head, I do not have much to write about concerning feminism that I can think of, so I will babble slightly about various goals and other things. I’ve been working on my application for a Masters in Social Work here at IPFW (which is through IUPUI, so I will and will not be an IPFW student for the next three years if I get accepted) but I feel stuck with the writing process (yes, writing consultants do get writer’s block). I keep forgetting to buy my cap and gown, and now I have an Honors banquet to attend for my work at the Writing Center. I am so looking forward to graduating… even if I will just continue on.

Also, I hope to have a job related to my field by summer so I can boost my income and hopefully next October be able to buy a house with my boyfriend. We went to see a mortgagor about our incomes and well our credit is not that great (big surprise since neither of us have had a card) and gave us some really awesome advice on how to raise our credit scores in the next six months so both of our incomes can count.

I’m really enjoying my current project in my Creative Writing class. We’re focusing on realism and showing a story about two people and only one of them realizes that something has changed and they feel differently about one another. I’m writing about two childhood friends who become dorm roommates and they’re differences that made them stronger while in middle and high school are bringing them apart as friends in college.  It’s loosely based on two people I know, but they are their own characters in their own rights. I think a lot of it has to do with when you’re a kid, you conform and try to be just like your best friend. You want to have everything the same and be around each other all the time, but as you get older you start becoming your own person and learn how to be independent from each other.

Does anyone have similar experiences of growing apart from a friend?

Blog 8

When I went to see the Education of Shelby Knox event I was surprised at how everything is connected. She started fighting for comprehensive sex education in the high schools, then she started fighting for the Gay Straight Alliance group and she has ended up being one of the “newer” (she started nearly 10 years ago) faces of feminism. It was just interesting because Shelby talked about abortion rights and in my Human Services Substance Abuse / Prevention (even though it should be Treatment) we went over some of the controversy of incarcerating pregnant women who are addicts. As my professor pointed out – they can’t incarcerate them for being drug addicts… and I thought, so we’ll incarcerate them for being women, because they are the only group to be targeted. I found a very good article from the Journal Gazette about a case from a few years ago: http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008804270386 and my favorite quote in there, which pretty much states why I dislike this is “If a pregnant woman can be viewed as a child abuser before she ever gives birth, or as a murderer because she cannot guarantee a healthy birth outcome, she ceases to exist as a full human being and full rights-bearing citizen,” the organization said in a statement on the Alabama prosecutions.

Some of the new state laws include:

15 states consider substance abuse during pregnancy to be child abuse under civil child-welfare statues.

14 states require reporting of suspected prenatal drug abuse and 4 to test to exposure if the health care provider expects abuse.

19 states have either created or funded drug treatment programs specifically targeted to pregnant women, 9 provide pregnant women with priority access to state-funded drug treatement programs

ONLY 4 STATES PROHIBIT PUBLICITY FUNDED DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAMS FROM DISCRIMINATING AGAINST PREGNANT WOMEN.

Right now many laws are pushing for Fetus Abuse laws to give unborn children’s rights to protection from harm and place the welfare of the fetus as the highest priority. However, if a mother smokes or drinks, she cannot be charged – only if she does other drugs such as marijuana, crack, or meth. The problem becomes that women will not seek treatment or even prenatal care in fear that she will be punished for doing drugs – endangering the fetus and woman even more.

 

Also noticed this during spring break:

http://thefeministbreeder.com/whether-you-work-for-pay-or-work-for-your-family-we-are-all-full-time-mothers/

Blog 7

The PBS video from our supplemental readings made me think about some of the laws in America. I do not doubt that there is a serious problem with sex offenders around the world and in our country. I just wonder about the sex offenders list on the internet here in America, and how some of the offenders will be on there for 10 or more years. For most hard-core sex offenders, I would be glad to know how close my children are to them. However, personally know someone on that list. He was charged with statutory rape – he was 19 and the girl was 17. His sister told me that they did not have sex, but fooled around and that the girl bragged to her friends about having sex. The mother of the girl found out later and pushed the charges. He is not allowed to see his niece, who was just born when the charges were held against him, nor work with kids (which is how I met this person).

I know that sexual crimes are especially heinous (as Law and Order rightfully puts it), but I also wonder how we are setting up a stage for these people to NEVER get their lives back and to stay in a cycle of violence. If they cannot find jobs or become productive members of society – how are they going to do anything but commit another crime again? It is very hard for anyone’s name to make its way off that list. I guess I just wanted some of your opinions.

Blog 6

While looking for news articles to add to the Website Project last week, I came across an article about Lara Logan, the journalist who was sexually assaulted in Egypt. I heard about what happened when the news first hit (second week of February), but for awhile, that I knew of, nothing else was said, until I started looking. This is the link I went to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/20/female-foreign-correspond_n_825636.html which talks about how this is not an isolated incident, generally female journalists will not report violence against them, afraid that their editors will not send them out for news coverage. The sickening part, is that there have been several comments about how it is Lara’s fault, she should not have dressed revealingly (notice how in the picture she’s covered to her neck… not exactly scandalous) and what else could she expect.

Video: Controversy Over Lara Logan Criticism http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=12950836 – Focus on Faith panel

The first quote they read from just disgusted me, I could not believe that someone could say something like that about anyone. I also wondered how they can even be in the field of journalism when they are so biased.

The next video discusses more on Women’s rights in Egypt and how the Lara Logan story has not only made an impact in the Mideast, but also in the States as well.

Video: Women’s Rights, sex assault in MidEast http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/02/17/exp.am.intv.eltahawylogan.cnn – Mona Eltahawy

To move away from Lara’s discussion (although not completely since dress was a topic discussed), I noticed that there was a video about women’s dress as a part of the Focus on Faith video series, and after hearing the comments about Lara being inappropriately dressed, I wondered what affect that would have. The surprising thing, the same person who has advocating for Lara was now saying something similar to the critics – that a woman needs to be more “appropriate.” (The conversation changes to something else, and I did not watch that portion.)

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Spirituality/video/rules-religion-12732558&tab=9482930&section=4806329&playlist=4806330

I was thankful that the other individual stood up for women, and questioning why men need to control women. And I was worried when he said that he was oppressed by the same rules in society. What do you guys think about those that are criticizing Lara? What about the opposite side, is going public helping or hindering the Egyptian society? How can we change religious views that were written in the bible, but considered women subordinate?

 

Blog 5

The final princess blog has arrived! This is the last stage of princess, since Tangled and The Princess and the Frog were not out at the time, neither are in the movie (in fact, I have yet to see Tangled). I remember loving these movies for the longest time because these Disney princesses actually make a difference and stand up for what they believe in. It took nearly 60 years before Disney made movies with strong female heroines, and I forgot to note that since Beauty and the Beast, all of the antagonists were male, rather than females.

 

“The final two princesses that are available in neatly packaged Disney features today are Pocahontas and Mulan, the heroines of their stories. Oddly enough their stories aren’t exactly fairytales; one is an American Legend and the other a Chinese myth. But they are incredible, even if not necessarily credible in detail. Disney’s take of events for Pocahontas is far from historical fact and even Mulan’s story is changed for entertainment. Despite this discrepancy these two protagonists make a valid point by being completely different than the other princesses. They take matters into their own hands to do what they believe is right, even if they are going against laws or boundaries set on their society or gender. Ultimately men do not rescue them; they rescue the men and/or their nation! They both stop wars while they are in the process of finding themselves and they have their own identity crisis, not a crisis of ‘where is the man in my life to fulfill me?’ like some of the previous princesses have. Nevertheless, these newer movies have some mixed messages on sexism as well and often differentiate the things that only men can do and what women should do. After Mulan’s disguise is exposed, no one listens to her warnings of a danger in the city. Even her guardian dragon has a hard time focusing on her and says, “You’re a girl again, remember? No one’s going to listen to you,” (Mulan). Although Mushu is speaking of the norms for around 4^th dynasty China, what does this say to girls who are watching the movie today? Do girls need to be a man to have their opinions listened to?”

Later on in my research, I noted that Mulan probably would get the worst grade at gender roles because of the lyrics of many of the songs:

“Near the opening of Mulan, the women all sing a song called “Honor to Us All” where they list all of the qualities that Mulan should possess to be a good wife and therefore a good woman in their society by explaining to her, “Men want girls with good taste / calm, obedient, who work fast-paced / with good breeding and a tiny waist. / You’ll bring honor to us all.”

These characteristics are not what make up a good wife, but rather a good housemaid. There is nothing about respect between a couple or the love that makes up part of the relationship, instead the work that she will be expected to do is more essential to the relationship. Also being thin and having good genes are listed as more imperative than her personality and it is placing less emphasis on her as an individual.

The men in China’s army sing a song called “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” and describe what their dream girl will be like. Many state things like, “My girl will marvel at my strength / adore my battle scars. / My girl will think I have no faults, / that I’m a major find. / My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her,” and when Mulan takes a turn she asks, “How ‘bout a girl whose got a brain / who always speaks her mind?” (Mulan). The men turn the suggestion down, mostly because it does not resemble their egotistical ideas enough; there is no emphasis on them.”

There is also a song called, “I’ll make a man out of you,” but I ran out of room for that one.

What do you think about this though? Am I taking this way out of context, that the song is strictly for a 4th dynasty China, or is this saying something about today’s culture?

I thought you guys might be interested in looking at this, there are some differing viewpoints on some of the movies on a feminist blog site:

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/10/26/but-the-animal-companions-are-doin-it-for-themselves/

 

Blog 4

Continuing with the princess theme, this also came from my paper and describes the next set of princess archetypes from Disney. These came out in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I notice that as I reread my paper, the critiques usually came out of the music, especially in The Little Mermaid with Ursala’s song, “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” There’s many lyrics that explain to Ariel that a man doesn’t want to hear her, just see her, and that’s what body language is for. Sorry about the glittered picture, couldn’t find another with just these three.

“The middle stage of princesses has been modernized to fit the girls in the 1990’s; they are the more intermediate princesses. While the three princesses Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine have parts in their movies in which they are emotional, they also express wanting “more” than what they have in life. The “more” is often about love and adventure without necessarily needing a prince and marriage either.  All three are more outspoken, smarter and daring. Jasmine, a sheltered princess all sixteen years of her life, quickly learns the ropes of jumping buildings and living in the streets in the motion picture, Aladdin. Belle is a bookworm and she sees beyond Gaston’s looks and finds him repulsive instead of handsome as opposed to the other village girls in Beauty and the Beast. While in The Little Mermaid, Ariel takes a huge risk when she bargains with Ursula, the sea witch to explore the world above the ocean. Even though as princesses they take on a small part of the fighting to help the male protagonist in the films, the princes still save the day in the end by rescuing these fair princesses. Belle is the only one to save her prince by showing him how to be kind-hearted, and by seeing past the Beast’s looks, she falls in love with him as a person. This sets him free of the curse that turned his appearance so fearsome and hideous. In 1992 Jasmine is also ground breaking in terms of the these characters because she is the first non-white princess to emerge on film since the Disney Princesses first appeared, which is a trend that continues into the last stage of princesses.”

Later on I mentioned that all of the princesses had semi-strong male figures, but none of them have strong female models. I think that in one of the conversations we had on Blackboard, someone mentioned that their daughter pretended that her mother was gone to be more like the princesses, which surprised me. Do you think that the lack of a strong female relationship is significant?

Blog 3

My freshman year, I did a research paper based on the values that girls learn from media – my choice was the Disney Princesses.  Since I did bring this up in one of my reflections, I wanted to look at each of my three stages of princess again for a few of these blogs. “The Princess and the Frog” was not out yet, although rumors and drawings were beginning to leak onto the internet, so when I do get to the later princesses, that is why she will not available later when I hit the more modern princesses. This is my section about the typical stage of princesses:

“The Disney Princesses that have been shaping gender characterizations the longest are part of the typical stage, and therefore the least competent protagonists. The first three princesses – Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora (also known as Briar Rose or Sleeping Beauty) – who are more like typical ‘cookie cutter princesses’, are all shown as being delicate, sweet, naïve, helpless and terrific at cooking and cleaning. Some of the characterizations of women portrayed by these princesses are less than ideal when it comes to being role models for little girls.

For instance, most of the princesses need rescuing by their prince or, in Cinderella’s case, the dog, Bruno. They’re powerless without a man and depend on them to be rescued rather than being more independent and self-reliant. According to Stephanie Vermeulen’s book, Kill the Princess, “the princess or the little girl’s sole attribute is her beauty, and mostly the message is painfully clear: If being rescued from the evil witch… is what you want, brains are unappealing and beauty scores” (31-32). Princesses Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora are all not very bright because they are emotional and immature.

In the movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, there is a scene where Snow White is running away from her home after the Huntsman warns her about the Evil Queen’s plan to kill her and while she is running through the forest, she becomes frightened of the shadows. She lets her imagination get away with her when she misconstrues forest creatures for monsters. Many times in these remakes of fairy tales the comedic relief outshines the female protagonists. Who’s more memorable, Dopey and the other dwarves or Snow White? Mike Barrier noted that, “We care more about what happens to Snow White because the dwarfs – [who have] far more vivid personalities than she – care so much for her” (qtd. in Maltin 28). Thankfully in 1989, thirty years after Sleeping Beauty was made, the Princesses started to have more depth to them.”

I bring these up because they have not only been the oldest Disney princesses (1930s-1950s), but their stories have been around since Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm started to pen down their stories. Also I’d like to note that Cinderella is the tale remade the most out of all of the princesses to date. My favorite version is Ever After, but I think most of it has to do with the fact that Danielle’s character is realistic, smart and witty, and she rescues Henry a time or two herself rather than being in need or rescuing. Also I’d like to note that if you see all of the Disney princesses together on a photo – you will almost never see more than one princess of color out of five. Nor has Princess Tiana really been integrated (as far as I can tell with the internet images) into the merchandising as much as the others.

Blog 2

Earlier this week, I brought up the Christina Aguilera song, which is called Can’t Hold Us Down. Reading the lyrics, I thought song was powerful for a female anthem, and it sounds like she’s advocating for a change – or at least pointing out that some of the male celebrity counterparts do get away with more because if she expresses her sexuality, she is called names. Here are the lyrics:

So-What am i not s’pposed to have an opinion?
Should i be quiet to speak because i’m a woman?
Call me a bitch (bitch) cause i speak what’s on my mind
Guess it’s easier for you to swallow if i sat and smiled

When a female fires back
suddenly big talker don’t know how to act
So he does what any little boy would do
Makin’ up a few false rumors or two
That for sure is not a man to me
Slanderin’ names for popularity
It’s sad you only get your fame through controversy (so sad)
But now it’s time for me to come and give you more to say

Chorus:
This is for my girls all around the world
Who have come across a man that don’t respect your worth
Thinkin’ all women should be seen, not heard
So what do we do girls?
Shout louder
Letting them know we’re gonna stand our ground (our ground)
So lift your hands high and wave’em proud (wohoh)
Take a deep breath and say it loud,
Never can, never will
Can’t hold us down

Nobody can hold us down (us down)…Nobody can hold us down (us down)…Nobody can hold us down (hold us down)
Never can never will…

So what am i not supposed to say what i’m saying
Are you offended with the message i’m bringin’
Call me whatever ’cause your words don’t mean a thing
Cuz you ain’t even a man enough to handle what i sing
If you look back in history it’s a common double standard of society
The guy gets all the glory, the more he can score
While the girl can do the same and yet you call her a whore
I don’t understand why its OK,
The guy can get away with it while a girl gets named
All my ladies come together and make a change

Start a new beginning for us, everybody sing

Chorus

Lil’ Kim:
Here’s something I just can’t understand
If the guy have three girls then he’s a man
He can either give her some head, or sex her raw
If the girl do the same, then she’s a whore
But the table’s about to turn
I’ll bet my fame on it
Cats take my ideas and put their name on it
It’s aight though, you can’t hold me down
I got to keep on movin’
To all my girls with a man who be tryin to mack
Do it right back to him and let that be that
You need to let him know that his game is whack
And Lil’ Kim and Christina Aguilera got your back

You’re just a little boy,
Think you’re so cute, so coy
You must talk so big, to make up for smaller things
You’re just a little boy
All you’ll do is annoy
You must talk so big, to make up for smaller things,
Repeat Chorus X2

However, watching the music video, I think it portrays another kind of situation because she is the least covered up (until Lil Kim takes off her cover) and starts to have a men vs. women dance off. I don’t think the video really accurately shows a winner, not that there should be one – if instead she walked away with a male that respected her, I think the video would have been more successful.

Blog 1

Hello, just trying this out.